In His Pawprints
by SilverAngel99
Summary: A joint story between SilverAngel99 and shadow hound dancer. Balto and Jenna's puppies have heard the tale of their father's legendary journey. Now they're determined to show the world that they can be as great as their father, along with new friends.
1. Prologue

_This is a joint effort between **SilverAngel99 **and **shadow hound dancer**. We decided to just post under this name._

_Feel free to visit either accounts to see more details about us and our separate stories._

-----------------------------------------------

Prologue

It had been far too long, Balto decided as he paced around the large house. He had been past the front door five times now, how many more times would he? Once more, he tried to take it slow, but he gained speed as he went, his nerves driving him forward at a faster rate.

Behind the house he paused completely, looking mournfully at the window before him. The curtain had been drawn, preventing him from looking into the room beyond. However it didn't stop him from getting up onto the window ledge, resting his paws against the sill, and looking wistfully at the curtain.

As he did he glanced down at his paws, a sad reminder of his wolf heritage. Oh how he hoped that none of his puppies ended up with these paws. He'd know soon he hoped. If they'd only let him inside!

Balto slid down from his place at the window and continued his pacing around and around the house; his path had warn through the snow and now was wearing into the dirt below it. He caught wind of several scents that on any other day would have sparked his interest but today, he just continued to pace; There was more on his mind than just what he smelt, when inside Jena was about to give birth to their puppies.

Rosie's parents had thrown him outside the instant they had realised Jenna was going into labour. Balto, the expectant father, was doomed to spend the next few hours kicking a track into the snow, missing what was the most important part of his life. All thanks to his "questionable lineage".

Thankfully when dinner time came around, kind hearted Rosie let him inside the house while her parents ate. Her head poked around the front door

"You can come in now." She whispered.

Instantly his ears pricked up, his tail jumped up and a doggy grin broke out on his face. He felt the urge to bark with joy, and only resisted when Rosie brought her fingers to her lips in a silencing gesture. Still, he could not keep himself from prancing up the front steps to the house. There, he felt Rosie grab at the collar she had given him a few weeks ago. While he did not enjoy being held back in such a way, he allowed it, knowing where Rosie was taking him and what awaited him there.

When they were only a few steps away from the cupboard in Rosie's room where Jenna had "set up house", he heard some quiet mewling sounds. Jumping to attention Balto rushed for the cupboard, but Rosie held him back and told him harshly:

"NO!"

So Balto stopped, knowing he'd never be allowed in if he kept up this type of behaviour. Tucking his tail between his legs, he peered around the corner.

Inside the cupboard lying on the jumbled pile of blankets, was Jenna, her eyes closed. Suckling from her belly were, not one, not two, but four beautiful puppies. Balto felt his heart stop and leap into his throat, when he saw them.

Even from this distance they were perfect. Four little puppies, all of his own….well not ALL his, his and Jenna's. All of them had four paws, two ears and a tail; to him they couldn't be more perfect.

Two were the colour of their mother, red and white, the third had his grey fur and the last one was a mixture of both.

A small wuff escaped his throat before her could help it, and Jenna opened one eye sleepily to look at him. There eyes met, and a pleased, yet tired smile crossed her face, matching his delighted grin.

Rosie still had his collar firmly.

"Balto," she said softly, "meet Shadow, Blitz, Scarlet and Robin." She pointed to each of the bundles of fur in turn.

Balto gave Jenna a questioning look. They'd named the puppies without him? She returned his look with an apologetic one of her own, but before either could say anything, they heard a sharp voice from the room behind them.

"Rosie!" Rosie's father had returned from dinner. "We told you not to bring him in here!" he quickly admonished her. "He might hurt them honey"

Feeling his heart sink as the older man's hand closed around his collar, Balto gave Jenna and the puppies' one final look before he was forcibly lead from the room.

"Balto!" Two feathered wings encircled his head and an orange beak kissed him repeatedly, the moment he was out the door. "You're a Papa!" Boris added, his Russian accent flavouring his speech.

Balto gleamed. "Yes Boris, I guess I am." That doggy grin replaced the sad look on his face. "To four wonderful puppies."


	2. The Woes of Uncle Borris

_Here's the part one, chapter one. Again, written by **Silver Angel99 **and **shadow hound dancer.**_

_Thanks to Bremner and spirit-wolf-05 for reviewing! Hope you like this next chapter :-)_

**-----------------------------------------------**

**Part One: Childhood**

**-----------------------------------------------**

**Chapter One: The Woes of Uncle Boris**

Crouching behind a fallen log, Blitz watched his prey carefully. The white goose still had his back to the log, clearly not knowing that death was near.

_Perfect_, Blitz thought. The Alpha Male has cornered his prey. Food came easily to a pack whose alpha male was such a strong, silent, and best of all, dangerous hunter.

He heard a movement in the bushes near him, and the scent of the "Alpha Female" caught his nose moments before he heard her voice.

"Pssst!"

"What?" he whispered, irritation in his voice

"If he comes this way I've got him!" she said with a doggy grin.

Blitz rolled his eyes. How did a pack leader as great as he get stuck with _that_ as an Alpha Female? His mind boggled even more at the thought as the aforementioned "Alpha Female" wagged her tail enthusiastically and by doing so disturbed the bush she was hiding in, gaining the attention of the goose that was his prey.

The goose turned around, looking for the source of the noise and his eyes came to land directly at the place where that stupid female wolf had caused such a commotion. Knowing that their cover was blown, Blitz let out an irritated growl and leapt out from behind the log, his front paws easily landing on the goose, pushing him forward.

"BLITZ!" Came a strangled cry from the squashed goose.

Instantly Blitz backed off, a wolfish grin on his face. "Gotcha good didn't I?" he asked in a cocky tone.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WHE…." Boris's outrage was interrupted when the other 'wolf' leapt out of the bushes, her front paws landing in the centre of Boris's exposed back. Feathers flew everywhere as he hit the ground once again.

Both Blitz and the Alpha Female, who was also known as Shadow let out a laugh.

"We BOTH got you good" Shadow exclaimed. She rolled on the ground laughing as Boris spat out a mouthful of snow.

"Why I ought to….!"

"Ought to what?" Came a feminine voice from near the log that had been Blitz's hiding place.

"Mummy!" Shadow called happily as she bounded over to greet her mother.

"We got Uncle Boris good!"

"Is that why he ought to… what?" she asked, looking enquiringly at Boris

"I……." Boris stammered. "…Ought to congratulate them both on being such good hunters." He finished, as he replaced the feathers he had retrieved from the snow. "You two are going to be the death of me," he muttered under his breath.

"I'm the Alpha female!" shadow informed her mother, jumping around.

"That's nice dear," she praised her daughter absently. "Come on its dinner time."

-----------------------------------------

Jenna followed behind the two puppies, nipping at their heels when they slowed down too much. Boris was waddling behind the three, still trying to replace the missing feathers that he had scooped up from the ground.

Blitz bounded ahead after a wayward snowflake with Shadow following close behind. Jenna smiled at the sight of the pair, her darling puppies. Balto was at home with Robin and Scarlett. Those two usually stayed close to home, Scarlett content to be brushed and petted by their girl, Rosie, and Robin, happy to just lie in front of the fire.

It was obvious that while Scarlett and Robin had gained a rather show dg approach to things, Blitz was definitely taking after his father, his enthusiastic leaping around playing games based on being out hunting in the woods. Both Jenna and Balto agreed that Shadow had been named rather well (though even after all these weeks, Balto still didn't like to talk about the naming of the puppies, or rather, his lack of help in doing so.). Shadow had taken to following her only brother around, mimicking all that he did and being overly eager to play his games.

Watching the brother and sister walk alongside each other, Jenna knew that Blitz must find his sister's behaviour annoying, but he'd never come to her whining about it. He was going to be a good dog, already looking much like his father.

Shadow was in a stark contrast, built more like Jenna, and with the same colouring, marred only by white that streaked through her face, covered her underbelly and feet. Rosie had wanted to name her Sox thanks to those feet, but Jenna had stood firm, growling at the very idea of the name. Her paws were as large as her fathers, which usually caused the young pup to trip up a lot more then her siblings while she was getting used to them.

Smelling dinner on the wind as they came closer and closer to the house that belonged to her girl and her masters, Jenna stopped speculating about her puppies, and instead thought about filling their bellies.

------------------------------------------


	3. Dinner Time

**Dinner Time**

One after another the puppies bounded up to Jenna,

"Mum! Mum, look what I found!" cried Robin, dropping what looked like a filthy old rag at her feet.

"That's lovely dear," Jenna said, slightly disgusted by the dirty old rag,

"I found it under the dresser," Robin told her proudly, her tail wagging happily.

As Jenna went to step over the rag and keep going, Balto stepped forward. "Perhaps you should take a closer look at it," he suggested in a sly voice.

Not quite sure what to expect, Jenna lowered her nose and sniffed the rag cautiously. When she realised just what it was, it was no longer an old rag to her. She looked up, delighted. "My old bandana!" she exclaimed.

Jenna bounded around excitedly, and a laugh came from the kitchen. It was Rosie.

"I thought you'd be pleased," she said as she placed 6 bowls on the floor. "Come on, Dinner time"

As the puppies raced for the food, Jenna hung back a moment, still sniffing at the old bandana, now so dirty you could hardly tell it used to be red. Rosie came over and picked it up gently, Jenna's eyes following it the whole time.

"I'll give it a wash for you, girl," Rosie said, lowering a hand to pat the excited dog's head.

Satisfied, Jenna left Rosie to the washing and went to eat her dinner.

By the time she had gotten to the bowls, her puppies had just about finished their meals. Balto's bowl, however, was as untouched as Jenna's; he was busy making sure the Puppies ate their fill.

Jenna flashed him a toothy grin, and settled down to eat her meal, before the puppies moved on from their own and scoffed hers too. As she started to eat, she watched Balto do the same. It was always interesting to watch him eat, as it seemed that his wolf instincts kicked in. He would look around carefully, making sure no one would come to close to his bowl, bar the puppies. They were allowed, but no one else. After living in the wild for so long, he always seemed a little afraid that someone would take his meal before he could finish it himself.

Scarlet lay on the floor, daintily licking the remnats of food off her dainty paws. Jenna went and sat beside her

"So what did you do today dear?" she asked, she had always tried to take an interest in her childrens days.

"Rosie gave me a brush again today, it was lovely. She let me lay by the fire all day and brushed me. Doesn't my fur look lovely?" The puppy looked over at her own back, admiring the shining coat.

It was still a mystery to her how she and Balto had ended up with a daughter such as she, but she loved her all the same, despite her excentricities.

"That's wonderful dear" she cooed

Their time was interrupted when Blitz came bounded over, followed closely (of course) by Shadow. "Tell us a story, mum!" he cried.

"Not until you settle down and let your dinner settle in your tummy," she quietly scolded the energetic pup.

Blitz whined and slunk over to the mat by the fire, pushing Scarlet out of the way, and sat down to wait until his dinner had "settled" whatever that meant. Shadow had of course followed him and was currently rolling around the mat behind him, trying to catch his tail.

"Shadow!" he barked irritably. "Do you have to right now?"

"I just wanna play," Shadow sulked, looking at their mother for support.

But Jenna smiled at her gently. "Now, Shadow, now's not the time. Let your food rest, or you'll be sick again."

With a small grumble, Shadow sulkily lay down too, but Blitz kept his eyes on his mother. "Tell us a story?" he asked hopefully.

Jenna sighed, resigned, "Oh all right"

Balto came over and settled down on the floor next to the sofa. Scarlet reclaimed a small section of the mat and curled up. The family gathered around for Jenna's tale.

"It started 3 winters ago, it was harsh, the snow was horrible, and Rosie was sick…."


End file.
